District outlines $597,000 LASSO 4.0 grant to strengthen school leadership

EAST CENTRAL ISD staff told the Board of Trustees the district will receive a $597,000 award over three years through the state’s LASSO 4.0 grant program intended to build leadership capacity at K–5 campuses.

A district staff member said the grant shifts support from direct one-on-one teacher coaching to strengthening principals and principal managers so they can coach teachers and sustain instructional improvements. "This particular grant really leans on building capacity with the leaders on campus," the staff member said, adding the work centers on observation-and-feedback systems and professional learning communities.

The staff member said the Texas Education Agency requires that 70% of the award go to a TEA-approved technical provider, with the remaining 30% available for district-directed uses. "TEA stipulates that 70% has to go to that technical provider," the staff member said. The district described possible uses of the flexible 30% as partial salaries for coaches, stipends for administrators, or online supplemental platforms.

Officials said the grant is more personalized than prior rounds: the provider will conduct a needs assessment to avoid repeating earlier training and to tailor supports to district strengths and gaps. The presenter noted the district has interviewed technical providers and would select one after evaluating how well proposals align with district systems.

Staff described monitoring and evaluation tools that will be used if the provider is engaged, including periodic "walks" of classrooms and PLCs and a dashboard to track implementation and outcomes. Citing vendor-reported outcomes, the presenter said one company reported that, among campuses it supported, a subset moved one to three letter grades within a year — a metric the district will consider among others when setting expectations with the provider.

The board discussion focused on how the grant differs from previous iterations and on the district’s capacity to sustain gains after external providers leave. The staff member said the intent is to equip principals with durable coaching language and routines so improvement continues once provider engagement ends.

Next steps: staff said they will finalize selection of the technical provider, identify a district lead point of contact, and complete required trainings if the board accepts the award. The transcript does not record a formal motion or final board action on the grant within the provided excerpt.